Time to go already?

Juli's mom, this pic is for you! Thanks for the crayons!!! These kids gather at my house to colour EVERY afternoon. They have never had access to anything like this and it is so amazing for them and me to have this time and space where they can be freely creative without adults hovering over them swearing at them to chop more firewood or scratch some coconuts.

(I wish I had time to qualify this statement, it's not like ALL kids get sworn at EVERY day, but the general cultural perceptions of the role of a child is very different than in North America.)

Oh, shoot.

I had all these plans to really update this blog properly with all the different pictures and themes and stuff and...alas...suddenly it's my last night in Vila and I'm meeting Erin & Julie M. for pizza & a movie (I have been FANTASIZING over both pizza and movies for the last 4 months).

So...it's going to be a choose-your-own adventure look through my photo album (below).

Main guides:

1. all the pics with cement in them are from the guys working on a teacher's house for the primary school, not my project but follow-up from the last volunteer.

2. as soon as you start to see other white people in the pics, that means all the Health volunteers are together doing a 2-week workshop for Village Health Workers in Lumbukuti, on the other side of my island

3. the random pictures of myself are because I didn't have a mirror and wondered what I looked like at various points in the last four months...especially after Noelle cut (ALL!) my hair...a relatively traumatic experience that I am just now getting over...

3. the ship near the end is the one I took to Vila, the one that made me puke for the better part of 13 hours (what a fun day...for real)

4. the last pics are of malaria testing that we do when anyone comes off a ship or plane - trying to help Tongoa become malaria-free :)

Tongoa - The First Four Months

If you're curious, I'm receiving your letters an average of 3 weeks after you send them, if you mail them directly to the island. Letters & packages sent to Peace Corps headquarters in Vila take a lot longer, though is definitely more 'secure'. As for letters FROM me, some people have got them in 2 weeks, or 4 and some of you are still waiting so...who knows?

I should be back in town en route to New Zealand around the third week of January...so check back around then.

Happy New Year!

John Roberts, 1983-2007

I have spent some time thinking about if and then how to write about this, and I'm not sure I have an answer yet.

But for those of you interested in following all the ups and downs of my Peace Corps experience, I feel I would be remiss if I did not include the recent death of 24-year-old volunteer John Roberts on the southern island of Erromango.

No, he was not a close friend of mine, nor someone I knew very well. When I got the, "I hate to be the one to have to tell you this..." phone call on the island, I know the shock and pain I felt cannot begin to compare with those of his friends and family in Peace Corps and at home, or the members of his training group that officially completed their two years of service last week...without him. He died just over a month before he was meant to come home.

So that's part of why I have a hard time figuring out how to talk about this.

But he was one of the family, nonetheless.

I had only really met him a handful of times. In fact, the only significant conversation I remember having with him was when he was teaching me how to set up my satellite phone system, and cautioned something along the lines of, "The sooner you realize you're completely alone out here, the better. Peace Corps can't or won't protect you - so you're going to have to learn to take care of yourself."

As a new trainee brimming with enthusiasm, that struck me as a peculiarly bitter and perhaps unnecessarily pessimistic viewpoint.

Ironically enough.

So, as it happens, I'm not really going to talk too much more about this right now. But, as a gesture of respect for John and his family, I would appreciate it if you would take the time to click on the links below and read a little bit about him and his story.

A Peace Corps blog...

A local news story.

A press release.

Thank you.

My Updated Family (in Emua)

So I know I'm jumping around a lot with these posts, but linear time is a Western thing anyway and really...I'm trying to get all this stuff posted before I go back to the island on Monday.

Here are pics of the fam from last weekend. Emua feels like a modern urban centre compared to my village on Tongoa. I mean, you can buy chocolate there.



Enat is not as innocent as he looks.



Smol Amanda's bigger! And as Uncle Matthew turns 17 next week, the family has decided I am to find a White Missus for him to marry "so he can travel". Seriously, he would be a great catch in all respects, and I have never seen a teenage boy in any country take care of babies as lovingly as this one. He also likes laplap, Jesus, and long walks on the beach...



I know what you're thinking...why am I decorated in crepe paper, why is Enat wearing a mat and why is Alexi wearing a bindi? You kinda had to be there...



Even angry and drooling he's so cute...I love this boy...have I mentioned that?




Awww...

Emua Dec 07

etc (the rest of the album)

My New Best Friend

Okay.

Deep breath.

After a year and a half of lusting after this camera, I just bought it.

And that means...this is for real.

I really am making a movie.

My gear is being shipped to my friend's place in New Zealand, and I'm picking it up when I go visit in January.

Which means filming should officially commence March 2008.

Exhale.

As far as this purchase goes, I am definitely relieved that the process of researching and second-guessing my choice forty million times along the way is finally over.

But as far as considering the prospect of making this film, my dominant experience is...quietly terrified.

I've never made a movie before, let alone completely by myself...on an island...in one of the most disaster-prone countries in the world...teaching myself how to operate a camera and...trying to tell a story in a language I don't speak and...and...okay, you get the picture.

But I've always wanted to be the kind of person that did stuff like that, though.

So I may as well start now.

And when I think of the past few months, I've definitely had my share of quietly terrifying experiences...

There was the time when the giant rat jumped out of a plastic bag in my kitchen ONTO MY FACE. And then the time when the schizo-psychotic old guy in the village was having an "episode" and broke into my hut on a Sunday morning. Or when a piece of my roof fell off during the tropical-depression-that-was-almost-a-cyclone and I had to huddle up in the only corner of my house that wasn't leaking. And the time when I was walking through the bush by myself in the pouring rain with like 50 lbs on my back side-stepping carefully along a cliff, calmly aware that one misstep would send me straight over the edge of a coconut plantation.

And, you know, now every one of those experiences are funny stories for the memoirs. (Not funny ha-ha, per se...)

So, like, I can probably make a movie, right?

My House

...in Bonga Bonga...is apparently finished.

Which means I am moving.

Here is a little photo journal of my house construction...



Let's hearken back to Wokabaot Week in May. If they worked solidly from this point forward, the house could be done in about five days. But then work just...stops...island-style.


Work resumes sometime in August...Tat Winnie, Papa Amos and Tat Leikav are 'cleaning' the wild cane for the walls.


Boo-Boo Charlie weaves it through the posts.


Lunch-time, roasted breadfruit, in my kitchen.


Jenery and Jenisa want to help!


These kids are totally kiaman...they were not helping at all...they just ran in to get photographed.

Then work stops again for a couple months and resumes in November.


So close! This is my front door...or it will be.


The newly-improved kitchen with a little wall-thing to keep out the chickens and pigs and stuff.


My swim-haos has a bench - how random. Steph (PCV from Epi who is visiting and taking all the pics of me) points out it's probably to put the bucket on so I don't have to bend down...she's really smart. She was a Stats major and everything.


My toilet.

I haven't been to Bonga Bonga in over a month now so who knows what the final product looks like...but...yeah. I'm moving out of Meriu and into Bonga Bonga. Definitely have mixed feelings about that, but ultimately I think the pros outweigh the cons and it's going to be a really good long-term setup for me. I am dreading the process of moving (lugging all my junk straight up a mountain) but I am looking forward to...having moved, if you know what I mean.

And for my loyal pen pals, this means that you can now send letters to:

Amanda Prasow, Pis Ko Volontia
Bonga Bonga Vilij
Tongoa Aelan
VANUATU
Southwest Pacific

Or you can keep sending mail to Meriu as there's only one Amanda on the island and I am 1 of the 3 people that ever use the post office the size of a closet anyway (the other 2 are the other Peace Corps volunteers on Tongoa).

:)

Brothers

So.

I'm back in Vila.

And I feel a little strange.

Not least because I woke up at an ungodly hour for the second time in five days to catch a truck back into town.

It has been a complete whirlwind of a week and a half, running around for work and play in Vila, visits to two northern villages, planning my movie and my upcoming trip to New Zealand as well as spending copious amounts of money on stuff I lived without for the first four months but am now more than ready to indulge in (in my former life, I would not consider things like "drainboard" or "nailbrush" an extravagant indulgence).

And now, here I am, back in Vila with a million things to do in the next few days, which might turn into a lot longer since actually every flight to the island is FULL for the Christmas season and I am just going to have to do that stand-by-hope-for-the-best thing we all learn to do in Vanuatu so well. It wouldn't matter if I didn't have a major project starting on Monday, with two kiwi Rotarians who don't speak a word of Bislama flying in. Actually, the thought of missing my project is sort of amusing, when you think about it, because we tend to think we are so indispensable, but obviously the show will always go on...but mostly it's funny because spending months coordinating a project you don't show up for because you were too irresponsible to book a flight ahead of time -- well...it's just such an incredibly Ni-Van thing to do. You know, island-style...why MAKE something happen when it's up to Papa God anyway?

Alas.

I really hope I get there on time.

But that's part of why I'm feeling a little strange right now. It was SO nice to be back in Emua. Mostly because I spent most of the weekend hugging Alexi. He's so cute and cuddly, I love him so much! In fact, Enat, our 5-year-old brother, solemnly asked me to adopt Alexi and take him to Tongoa, because even though he is only 2 he has a fierce right hook and really it would make his life easier if he wasn't there.

[Cultural footnote: One thing about Vanuatu is that children are regularly passed freely to friends & family...like how we would share, say, books or clothes..."Oh wow! You gave birth to a GIRL? Lucky! Can I have it? Like just for a few years or something? I'll give you a boy if I get one later..." For real. It's fascinating.]

Being back in Emua, sleeping in my old room and stuff, ended up being pretty emotional and helped me realize how much has really happened in the past eight months. It wasn't so long ago that 2-year-olds would burst into tears at the sight of me and my scary white skin. And now, a 2-year-old bursts into tears when I LEAVE the village. Alexi's poor little face just crumpled up and the tears just came...but not the screaming, tantrum-y kind of bawling that is his signature style, but this sad, sweet, pathetic expression of utter dismay.

I love that little boy.

And I'm feeling a little weird about going back to the island. Part of me can't wait to go home...and it DOES feel like home now. Peace and quiet and clean air and mangoes. Except for now it's going to be a new home in a new village and everything that goes along with *deep breath*...

Starting Again...

again.

Yes, stop the presses, they finally finished my house in Bonga Bonga. Almost. Apparently they're nailing on the last 3 windows today. So I'm moving. Again.

Anyway, so at 7 something this morning, I'm walking down the street in Vila contemplating the many recent and upcoming changes in my life, feeling a little mixed up and premenstrual and nostalgic, when I hear, "Ah-MAHN-daaa! Ah-MAHN...DAAA!" and look up to see one of my older Emua brothers standing in the back of a pick-up...and as the truck and him are getting smaller he's talking to me in that idiosyncratic Ni-Van sign-language that probably evolved when people starting riding in backs of trucks long before the telephone. Though I can't swear to it, I somewhat proudly decode his flamboyant gestures as "Meet me at this spot on the road at 4:30" but I confess, a lot of it is...inference.

On second thought, maybe it's ALL inference.

...at least in Peace Corps Vanuatu, anyway.

And suddenly there is a spring in my step again.

The Birthday Chronicles

So, like, I know you're just dying to hear about the past four months of my island life, but first you have to take a virtual tour through my SO-fun birthday...

(If you click on the pics they'll get bigger).


There was a time in my life when I envisioned waking up on my 25th birthday to breakfast in bed and my rockstar husband in a swank Manhattan apartment. As it happens, I woke up in someone else's flas-tumas Port Vila apartment (Neely's) to someone else's husband (Krissy's) snoring on the floor, and that ended up being just as cool. I amused myself taking pictures of myself on the balcony ostensibly for posterity and my parents but mostly cause it was fun...

And then...let the birthday festivities begin!


Peace Corps staff ALWAYS look directly at the road while driving Peace Corps vehicles...


Unfortunately, these photos do not show how truly packed this truck was...I mean...um...


There are far more lovely photos of this afternoon that I am not permitted to post because of SOME people's alleged bad hair days. I mean, really, you're in PEACE CORPS, people - you can have hot hair again in two years...





So then comes the totally fun part of the day when everyone's crazy sketchy plans for transport unexpectedly converge in EMUA, my training village, en route to Ekipe. I was only there for an hour or so, just enough time to surprise the fam, hug the living daylights out of my baby Alexi, and coo my face off at Smol Amanda.

When my mama found out it was my birthday she was incredulous that I hadn't informed her sooner and assured me we would be celebrating when I came back to Emua on the weekend. Not fifteen minutes later a girl I swear I don't know came up to me and was like, "Hey, I heard about your b-day party on Saturday! Can't wait!" So now I'm pretty excited. Apparently there's some kastom about throwing someone in the ocean fully clothed, but my mom said she felt bad cause she knew I'd have to ride the truck to Ekipe in my wet clothes...so who knows what I'm in for this weekend?


Speaking of the truck to Ekipe...


3 cheers for Jen for catching a boat in from Lelepa and then waking up at 4:30 a.m. to get back for a meeting. For real, it really does mean a lot to me.


So somehow Javi gets stuck cooking while the girls scamper off for a night swim in the coolest hidden little cove. Seeing Jen in that outfit was enough of a birthday present in itself...I'm still laughing...


Chili Tuesday lives...island-style! When you all live in a motel for 5 weeks in Vila, you get creative with theme dinners...


We won't talk about the guacamole disaster. Really. It's not necessary.


This was before drinks. For real.


Take a good look at Krissy & Javi's house...cause I forgot to take pictures of my house on the island, which actually doesn't really look anything like theirs but anyway...


The Cove in daylight! We officially celebrate my birthday on Wednesday as well, as it was still Tuesday in North America.


I'm scared to jump off the rock!


Ok, I'm going to do it...


Wahoo! It feels way higher than it looks in this picture.


Now THIS is what I'm talking about when I say I wanted to make sure I had an Island Birthday...


And this. Now on the beach. Right before a long, awesome nap.

Unfortunately, the camera was not out and ready this morning to capture the quiet pandemonium after Javi whispered ominously, "Um...Krissy? It's 5:30." Of course, both Krissy and I believe that to be an erroneous statement, as the alarm was set for 4:40 and the first transport back to Vila leaves at 5 and the last one at 5:30 so...yeah, we were up, out the door, and at the side of the road in FOUR MINUTES...thank god, we've got the adrenaline of 25-year-olds. We are waiting by the side of the road for not even a MINUTE when the truck rolls by, I flag it down, and hop in it.

A busy yet amazing day ensues. Highlights include:
-getting confirmation that everything is on track for the kiwis coming in for our Aid Post project next week (more about that later).
-I find out that not only did all our construction materials get put on the ship, but that they actually ARRIVED on the island when they were supposed to and FURTHERMORE were actually PICKED UP and transported to the Aid Post!
-I splurge and spend a whole $6 on a brand new T-shirt as my birthday present to myself, then hightail it to an awesome secondhand store and spend $12 on 2 skirts, 2 tank tops, and 2 T-shirts...wahoo...

Thus ends Part I of the Birthday Chronicles. More to come after the weekend in Emua...

25 Goals for My 25th Year

 

So this is my first "I am 25" picture. A complete photo diary of my first two birthday parties (the third one is on Saturday) will come as soon as I figure out a faster way to upload.

Ahem. As I was saying...

1. Master fire-making.
2. Hold The Handstand for 2 minutes.
3. Learn to play fifteen of my favourite songs on guitar well.
4. Write some songs.
5. Learn to weave a decent pandanus mat.
6. Make significant headway in writing a play or novel.
7. Build a piece of furniture by myself (starting with chopping the wood).
8. Get a teen Health Drama company touring the island.
9. Get our Aid Post building complete and up and running.
10. Learn to garden.
11. Host a random party on the beach.
12. Carry buckets on my head with no hands.
13. Read at least five ‘classics’.
14. Learn to navigate my island in the dark without a flashlight.
15. Learn to climb coconut trees.
16. Learn to skin, crack, scratch, and milk a coconut with efficiency.
17. Achieve at least an intermediate level of Namakura (local language).
18. Train at least two people to teach Yoga to others.
19. Learn to tell time well by the sun.
20. Learn to tell weather well by the moon.
21. Make laplap entirely by myself (get leaves, vegetables, stones, etc).
22. Write & teach Health Education rhyming games in Bislama
23. Have a meal in all fourteen villages on Tongoa.
24. Become adept with a machete.
25. Fingerpaint.

Frequently Asked Questions (Answers T.B.A)

So, the prospect of updating you all on the past four months of my life is actually sort of daunting...especially considering it's definitely been the CRAZIEST four months of life!

I truly don't know where to start...but I guess for the purposes of inducing a collective sigh of relief I should say right off the bat that I'm doing FABULOUS right now. It has definitely been a rollercoaster of emotions, but things are starting to stabilize and all of a sudden a bunch of amazing things are happening and I am in a really great, inspired place right now. There's a lot of exciting things going on on the island...and I am having the time of my life in Vila showering and eating pasta and relearning English and catching up with my dearly beloved Peace Corps and Ni-Van friends & family in the Vila area.

I have mentally committed to using this forum to answer the most frequently asked questions you send me via snail mail, e-mail, telephone and the good ol' coconut wireless...if I'm leaving something out, send it along!

These are the questions most people have asked me:


1. So, like, what do you DO on an average day?
2. What exactly is your job?
3. What is your house like? And, wait, WHICH village do you live in?
4. What and how do you eat?
5. How often do you get to see other volunteers/Whiteman?
6. What's the craziest thing you've done/seen/heard/eaten so far?
7. What's up with your documentary?
8. How is your mental health?



And, last but not least...

9. Did you fix your f***ing sat phone yet? I tried to text you ages ago...


I promise I'll get to all these before I go back to the island. At first I thought I'd head back next Friday, but there's too much I want to get done while I'm here so I think I'll tack another week onto it. It's a little overwhelming being back here after 4 months in the bush and I am definitely working on an island time, which I forgot to 'budget' for when I planned this trip...


But don't feel too sorry for me. Part of what I want to 'get done' is party it up for my 25th birthday on Tuesday! I actually really wanted to spend my birthday on the island for the coolness factor, but as my schedule would have it, I'm here on Efate and I somehow ended up planning three birthday parties for myself. First there will be birthday brunch at Jill's American Cafe (Amy Jo, I can see you smiling!) with everyone here in town and then I'll catch a truck up north to have the rural island birthday I wanted with a few friends at Krissy & Javi's site in North Efate... kinda like nipping up to 'cottage country' for a few days. I was trying to get all my cousin-brothers from Emua to come out for it, but as they've all suddenly made themselves examples of the Urban Drift Crisis in Vanuatu and gone to Vila to get construction jobs they can't skip out on (which is a really interesting phenomenon I will comment on at a later date), we've agreed that we'll all meet back in Emua (my training village, on the OTHER side of North Efate) for the weekend, where I will force everyone to celebrate my birthday yet again, as well as shower Smol Amanda with presents and love and take a million pictures of Alexi.


So I'm pretty excited.

:)